A real ‘Nighthawk’

I’VE always thought the solitary patron should be Studs Terkel, Chicago author and conscience [“Lives of a Diner,” Sept. 3]. Terkel’s observations (still being made at age 95) on the American scene were always pungent and on-target. Terkel -- more than Fitzgerald -- and much like Hopper -- could well say that in “the deepest part of one’s conscience -- it’s always 3 o’ clock in the morning.”

JOHN HENDRY

Van Nuys